Dear Parishioners and Friends of Saint Mary’s, 

Just a reminder that next weekend begins “Holy Week” with the Celebration of Palm Sunday. Palm will be blessed at the 4 PM Mass on Saturday and blessed Palm will be available at all the Masses. Extra additional blessed Palm will be available on the table in the elevator ground level lobby after all the Masses until Thursday at Noon or until all are taken. 

Time Change: Lenten Service for Ukraine: Praying for Peace (Sat, Mar 25 at 1:00pm) Note the revised start time of 1:00pm. Christ the King Ukrainian Catholic Church, 146 Forest Hills St., Jamaica Plain, MA 02130. Cardinal Sean O’Malley OFM Cap. and Bishop Mark O’Connell will be in attendance for the service. Parishioners are welcome to attend. 

Saint Patrick’s Day – Friday, March 17th: Cardinal Sean has granted a Dispensation from the Lenten Fast and Abstinence on Fridays because of this feast being the Patronal Feast of the Archdiocese.

This weekend in our first scripture reading we read of the story of the journey of Samuel to Bethlehem to the house and family of Jesse. It is in this city that God informs Samuel that he should anoint the future king of Israel. Samuel met all the older sons of Jesse and concluded that they could each be sufficient to the role, but surprisingly none of them were the choice of God. God reminded Samuel that He as God, sees differently, namely that He can see into people’s hearts. Finally in the story the youngest son is summoned for Samuel, and this youngest son named David is the choice of God.

Dear Parishioners and Friends of Saint Mary’s,

In the last week I received a letter from Cardinal Sean in which he informed me that I will be able to retire from the role of Pastor of Saint Mary’s Parish and become a Retired Senior Priest around the early part of this coming June, 2023. I am over 74 years old and during this June I am rushing even closer towards 75 years of age. I am shocked to realize at this point that I have been a priest for almost 49 years and am now one of the “old priests” of the Archdiocese. I know that endings are necessary as are beginnings. I began my priestly service at Saint Mary’s almost 14 years ago. When and where did all the time go? Certainly my heart and head are caught up in a giant jumble of feelings and emotions.

The liturgical season of Lent has long been associated with the preparation of catechumens (people preparing to become Christians) for the reception of the Sacraments of Initiation—Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist—at the celebration of the Easter Vigil. Lent also provides those of us who are already initiated into the Church with the opportunity to ready ourselves to deepen our commitment to our God and to each other, through the renewal of our own baptismal vows. On the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Sundays of Lent this year, we hear gospel stories which have been deliberately chosen for the catechumens. Each of these stories is from the Gospel of John; they are the story of Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well (March 12), his healing of the man born blind (March 19) as well as his raising of Lazarus to life (March 26). We, along with the catechumens, learn from these stories that Jesus is the living water, the light of the world and the resurrection and the life. What a great opportunity to understand more about who Jesus is in our own lives, and in the life of the Church!

 The sacred scripture this weekend is actually about new beginnings and also transformations which start new beginnings. We can often get lost in the words of scripture because much of it does not easily scan with the modern mind, and as a result, we miss what the scripture is really about. I often think that scripture is like manuals which come with new electronics or new software programs. We know the words, and they are written in sentences, but what they really do mean is beyond us. People who write manuals are supposedly “technical writers” who are to give the reader and user a set of directions which are practical and can be followed. Yet, manuals like scripture often need someone in between to help to understand the written words. When someone starts to “decode” the first reading we learn that God had promised Abram (soon to be called Abraham) a rich heritage and numerous descendants and all he had to do for these promises was leave his home. In the Gospel, the Transfiguration is one of the most awesome changes or transformations recorded in scripture.

As we begin 2023 Lent this Sunday, we start with a story from the very beginning of the Bible, and it is a story that talks about how “all our problems etc.” began. It is clear when we hear the story; Adam and Eve could not resist the seduction of the serpent. They did not realize that they were being tested, and unfortunately they failed. However, our later reading in the Gospel when Jesus is tested by the Devil with three ever so desirable temptations, namely food, celebrity status and power, He resisted. Our second reading this week is from Saint Paul, and it illustrates the differences between these two events. It is ironic that human disobedience brought about sin and death and then through human obedience we are freed from sin and death. Despite it all, we are truly blessed with the gift of salvation.

Instead of a Pastoral Reflection this week, this is a brief letter to keep everyone in the loop on life here at Saint Mary’s Parish. Obviously the church year is spinning along with Ash Wednesday and Lent just around the corner. Soon, (yes soon!), it will be Holy Week with the most spiritual Services and Masses for Palm Sunday, Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Vigil & Easter Sunday. Hopefully during this special Season of Lent you will be able to grow spiritually by intentional practice and prayer. Perhaps you might consider coming to the Stations of the Cross Service each Friday at 7 PM in the Chapel (lower level of the church) during Lent. An intentional devotional prayer service during Lent is a graced way to grow in closeness to God and meaningful purpose in your life.

A common theme often expressed in our culture is that we are all special and equal, but then we also add silently “Well, I am extra special.” We tend to like to have positive thoughts that we are egalitarian in principle and thought, but in fact by practice we often think we are either “special” or “exempt” from the responsibilities or rules of life which other people should observe. Our topics in the scripture this weekend are a further set of reflections upon the meaning of the Beatitudes in that we must consider the spirit and letter of the (holy) Law and also our personal freedom to choose.

In this weekend’s Gospel, we discover a continuation of the Sermon on the Mount. The great Beatitudes “sermon” focuses on the inner qualities or dispositions of all people. The Gospel this weekend focuses clearly upon those who are followers of Jesus Christ. This means it is focused on us. This talk of salt and light is a talk about us being salt and light. Both these images have been commonly used through the centuries and cultures to describe good and decent people. Someone who is consistently good to others is often called “the salt of the earth”, Often, when a good person dies, it is often said that there is a little less “light in our world.”

This weekend we hear the most famous “sermon” of Jesus, the Sermon on the Mount. This is often quoted as the most inspirational talk that Jesus gave. The Gospel writer Matthew in a sense uses this talk as the first sermon which Jesus offered. In his Gospel Matthew uses an image of Jesus as the Great Moses and thus he has Jesus give a great talk on a mountainside. Moses delivered the Ten Commandments from a mountainside and in Matthew, Jesus delivers His Beatitudes from a mountainside. The following four weeks of readings from the Gospel of Matthew are actually a continuation of the Great Sermon on the Mount. These coming four weeks are in a various sense an explanation of the Great Sermon. Sometimes a speech which is eloquent and brief needs to be explained by many other small speeches.

Dear Parishioners,
I have made great improvement in recovery. I decided that it was better to offer you a Reflection from a few years past because I am not yet functioning at full capacity. Recovery takes time.

Thanks and God bless, Father Brian.

Pastoral Reflections:

We launch out this Sunday on our Church’s yearlong proclamation and reflection upon on the Gospel according to Matthew is proclaimed to us each Sunday for the thirty-three Sundays in Ordinary Time. This Gospel directly links Jesus to the Old Testament. The narrative of the nativity of Jesus always adds frequently the refrain: “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet …” (Matthew 1:22). Thus in today’s Gospel reading, Matthew tells us that Jesus carries out his mission to fulfill an Old Testament prophecy.

Dear Parishioners,
Some of us practice medicine without a license or any formal medical education. I am an excellent diagnostician for others, but very poor one for myself. Some of you may be aware that I had a health emergency at the past Sunday’s NOON Mass. I had a near fainting spell. I was taken to the hospital where I was diagnosed with COVID. I thought I was recovering from the Flu. So my apologies to the people who were alarmed, my gratitude to those who expressed concern and said a little pray for me. I am now recovering, but will allow a doctor to diagnose me from now on.
God bless. Fr. Brian

PS: Below is a Reflection from a few years ago on the Baptism of the Lord Sunday.

We are now between the liturgical seasons of Christmas and Lent, celebrating the season of Ordinary Time. (The Christmas season ended on January 9 with the Baptism of the Lord, and Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, February 22.) The season of Ordinary Time gets its name from the fact that the Sundays are numbered (ordinal); the name does not imply that the season is “run-of-the-mill” or just plain and “blah”. These few weeks, and the weeks of Ordinary Time that return after the Easter Season is complete, give us the opportunity to learn about discipleship and experience Jesus’ life and teachings.

Although the story of the Three Kings on this Feast of the Epiphany is that they presented gifts to Jesus, in a special sense the story is really about starting with the Three Kings and then all of us are also receiving a gift this feast day: the appearance of the Infant Jesus among us throughout the world. Recall that Jesus had appeared to a few shepherds in Bethlehem, symbolically the Chosen people and He now appears to the Three Kings, consequently symbolically He appears to all of us throughout all time. There is also a subtle and second lesson for us in the story of the Magi, the Three Kings that we must go after and seek this New-Born King Jesus in our lives.

Since I was a young boy January 1st has had in our Church Tradition many and various Feast Names and Titles, however it appears that the only one which has stayed consistent though time is the secular one: New Year’s Day. I recall when January 1st was the Feast Holy Name of Jesus, the Feast of the Circumcision or the Feast of Mary, Mother of God. Pope Paul suggested that the proper Mass to celebrate on this day was the Mass for Peace. All in all it has been considered a Day of Obligation for Catholics despite the various names. I would suspect that sometime we are in search of a title or name for an event and the obvious is just too obvious for us. Why would we make something clear when it can be obscured? I would suggest that it is a wonderful and great truth to gather on the first day of the new calendar year and ask for God’s protection and grace for our loved ones and ourselves. Expressing dependence and connection with our God on the first day of a new year is a wonderful step in our journey of life. It may help to give focus and definition to our coming year that we invoked God’s blessing for us as we stepped into our new year.